This invention relates generally to machine tooling and more particularly to apparatus and methods for deburring operations.
Currently many machined features, such as those found on aircraft engine parts, are deburred manually. This leads to inconsistencies in the finished feature size and shape. With the introduction of requirements for stricter process control, highly stressed features require automated deburring processes to ensure consistency. Because of the difficulty machining aviation materials, many of these features come out of the primary machining operations with large burrs that must be removed with carbide cutters (e.g. rotary files). The difficulty with automating these processes is removing the burr without removing parent material. The burr size varies from part to part and the location of the feature can also vary making it impossible to program a specific toolpath to remove only the burr.
The state of the art for this application is to use an automated probe to determine the contours of the machined feature and then through adaptive machining morph an existing CNC toolpath to cause a deburring tool to follow the feature and remove the burr. Unfortunately this it is a very costly solution which requires additional maintenance support. It can also be very difficult at times to probe the feature without probing the burrs, causing errors in the toolpath.